How to complete a life insurance e-application in Canada

A life insurance e-application takes about 30 minutes with a licensed advisor by phone or video, and nothing is printed. You answer the insurer’s questions on screen, sign electronically, set up a pre-authorized debit or credit card, and either receive an instant decision on a simplified-issue plan or book a tele-interview for a fully underwritten one. Humania’s IWME Life is “issued instantly” after six questions; Wawanesa Life submits every individual life application through its @pprove platform. The policy arrives by email.

What do you need before you start?

Identity, address, payment details and the beneficiary’s details. Have these ready and the call runs in one sitting.

• Work permit, study permit, PR card or citizenship document.
• A Canadian residential address and a phone number.
• Banking details (institution, transit and account number) for pre-authorized debit, or a credit card where the insurer accepts one.
• Your family doctor’s name and address, if you have one in Canada; otherwise the last doctor you saw.
• Beneficiary’s full legal name, date of birth, relationship and country of residence; see naming a beneficiary outside Canada.
• For larger amounts: a job letter or recent pay stub, and the PR acknowledgement of receipt if you have filed. PolicyAdvisor notes some insurers raise limits with it.

How long it takes: 20 to 40 minutes for the application call, plus a 20 to 40 minute tele-interview if the plan needs one.

How does the e-application work, step by step?

1. Book a needs call. The advisor confirms your status, the amount and the term, and checks which insurers accept your permit at that amount. See eligibility.
2. Choose the insurer and plan. The advisor quotes two or three options live and you pick one. See how to compare quotes.
3. Complete the electronic form together. On a shared screen or by phone, the advisor enters your answers into the insurer’s platform. Wawanesa Life uses @pprove; Humania’s IWME is an online form with six eligibility questions.
4. Answer the health and lifestyle questions honestly. Simplified-issue plans ask 6 to 20 questions. Fully underwritten plans ask more and may defer the detail to a tele-interview.
5. Name the beneficiary. The FCAC advises naming a beneficiary on every policy; without one the estate is the default. Add a contingent beneficiary.
6. Set up payment. Enter banking details for a pre-authorized debit, or a credit card. Humania lists “monthly credit card payment with no additional fees”.
7. Review the completed application. Read every pre-filled answer. The advisor cannot sign for you.
8. E-sign. You receive a link by email or text, open the document on your phone or computer, and click to sign. The advisor signs as the agent of record.
9. Tele-interview, if required. For fully underwritten plans, the insurer or its vendor calls at a time you book. Wawanesa Life’s broker resources list a tele-interview online scheduler.
10. Underwriting decision. Instant for Humania’s simplified-issue tiers; days for Canada Protection Plan’s simplified-issue plans, which state coverage can start as soon as the policy is issued; days to weeks for fully underwritten cover.
11. Policy delivery. The policy is emailed or posted to the insurer’s client portal. Check the name, amount, term, premium and beneficiary on page one.
12. First premium. Cover is in force once the policy is issued and the first premium is collected. Note the debit date.

What happens in the tele-interview?

A trained interviewer asks the insurer’s medical questions by phone and records the answers; it replaces the paper medical questionnaire, not an exam. Expect questions on diagnoses, medications, doctors seen in the last five years, family history, smoking, alcohol, driving record, travel and hazardous sports. Under Wawanesa Life’s Foreign Nationals program the interview can be in your own language; see the hub.

Answer from records, not memory. Have your medication list and the dates of any specialist visits in front of you.

How does pre-authorized debit work?

The insurer debits your Canadian bank account on a fixed date each month under a PAD agreement governed by Payments Canada’s Rule H1. The Payments Canada consumer guide sets out your rights: the biller confirms the PAD details “at least 10 days prior to the first PAD” unless you agree otherwise, you can cancel the agreement and “the biller must cancel the agreement within 30 days of the notice”, and “you have 90 days from the withdrawal date to report an incorrect or unauthorized pre-authorized debit” to your bank.

Two warnings. Cancelling the PAD does not cancel the policy or the premiums you owe; write to the insurer to cancel cover. And a missed debit, from a closed account or a changed bank, starts the grace period and then lapses the policy. Wawanesa Life’s broker site lists a “Pre-Authorized Debit Application / Banking Change” form for when you switch banks.

What if something goes wrong?

Most problems are fixable before issue and harder after. Here is what to do.

You usually have a free-look period after delivery, during which you can cancel for a full refund; the length is printed in the policy. Confirm it with the insurer at quote time.

Super Visa Direct Insurance Services arranges life and critical illness insurance with Canadian life insurers, including Wawanesa Life and Canada Protection Plan (underwritten by Foresters Life Insurance Company), through a managing general agency. Our advisor disclosure explains how we are paid. Nothing here is advice for your situation until you have spoken to a licensed advisor. Contact us to book the needs call; our how it works page explains the rest of the process.